Fortnite: Cash Cup Tournaments Return with Duo and Solo Formats
| Tags: Fortnite
| Author Matt Pryor
Cash Cups are back and are a bit different than we have seen in the past.
March 9th of 2019 was an exciting day for competitive Fortnite players and fans the world over. Epic Games came out hot in Chapter 2 Season 2 with the revealing of another Fortnite Champion Series. It’s been a long wait since the last FNCS concluded, and now a new competition is here, this time in a duos format. Along with the FNCS announcement came the return of the often polarizing Cash Cup tournaments. We’ve seen Trio Cash Cups in the past, but for Chapter 2 Season 2, Epic Games will host Solo and Duo Cash Cups.
Contents
New Season, Familiar Format
The @FNCompetitive Twitter account made no formal reference to the return of Cash Cups. Instead, a blog post surfaced in the competitive Fortnite news section with rules and regulations for the upcoming competitions. It’s business as usual in terms of the scoring system where placement thresholds award three points for 11th to 15th place, five points for 6th to 10th place, seventh points for 2nd to 5th place and ten points for the Victory Royale. Each elimination earned in a given game will yield one point to each duo or solo. Cash Cups will take place on Wednesdays and Thursdays beginning on March 18th and ending on April 22nd.
What are Ghost and Shadow Cash Cups?
One of the most significant changes in the newest string of Cash Cups is that there are two different types of them. Ghost and Shadow Cash Cups keep up with The Agency theme of Chapter 2 Season 2, but each side will receive separate tournaments. For example, Platform Cash Cups for Europe will feature a Ghost and Shadow version with the same payout structure. Each competition will also run simultaneously to the other.
The rules do not explicitly state whether or not duos and solos will lock themselves into Ghost or Shadow once queuing into their first game. Theoretically, this means players could switch back and forth with the hope of doubling down on their money. Although the time and match limit still exists, it’s strange that Epic Games decided to host four Cash Cups per week instead of just two.
Prize Pools
As usual, the European region possesses more robust prize pools compared to other areas. The Platform Cash Cups will dole out $2.5K USD to the winner each week and will pay up to tenth place, which will receive $200 USD. Each tournament will pay out to the top-ten for Europe and NA East, top-six for NA West and Brazil and top-three for all other competitive regions.
The Duo Contender Cash Cups will pay out $1.5K USD to the winning European duo. Players who finish up to 50th place will walk away with $400 USD or $200 USD per player. NA East will pay out top-25, NA West and all others will pay out top-five. We can safely multiply each prize pool per week by two considering the separate Ghost and Shadow events, as mentioned before. Refer to the small prizing sample below for Europe in both the solo and duo Cash Cups.
Europe Platform Cash Cup (Solo)
- Rank Prize
- 1st $2,500
- 2nd $1,500
- 3rd $900
- 4th $800
- 5th $700
- 6th $600
- 7th $500
- 8th $400
- 9th $300
- 10th $200
Europe Contender Cash Cup (Duo)
- Rank Prize
- 1st $1,500
- 2nd $1,300
- 3rd $1,100
- 4th $950
- 5th $800
- 6th $650
- 7th $600
- 8th $550
- 9th $530
- 10th-14th $480
- 15th-25th $420
- 26th-50th $400
More Content and More Opportunities
Fortnite’s latest competitive endeavor feels a little underwhelming from a prize pool standpoint. The reality of the situation is that what we have is better than nothing at all. Competitive players have been surviving on wagers, third-party tournaments and tireless custom scrims. Cash Cups will by no means break the bank, but we saw some outstanding talents emerge last season through these tournaments.
The likes of Khanada and UnknownArmy solidified themselves as top players through Solo Cash Cups. At the very least, competitors have something to generate content off of along with the upcoming Duo FNCS. We may see even more hidden talents breakout with the next slew of competitions. Cash Cups are by no means on the level of a Fortnite World Cup 2, but hopefully, that will come down the pike in the next few months.
Featured Image and Source: Epic Games
Matt is a graduate of Southern New Hampshire University. He appreciates all esports titles but primarily focuses on Fortnite and Call of Duty. Matt continuously analyzes gameplay and plays the games himself to better understand in-game decisions by the best players in the world.